# The Ways in Patterns at the Hong Kong Palace Museum: How an Immersive Digital Exhibition Brought Palace Patterns to Life

> The Ways in Patterns, jointly organised by the Hong Kong Palace Museum and the Palace Museum, ran in Gallery 7 in West Kowloon from 14 May 2025 to 3 June 2026. Seven immersive spaces turned patterns from Forbidden City architecture, ceramics and textiles into projected light that responds to footsteps, waves, touch and drawing.

**Published:** 2026-10-11 - **By:** MLABART

## What was The Ways in Patterns?

The Ways in Patterns: An Immersive Digital Exhibition from the Palace Museum was the first digital exhibition organised jointly by the Hong Kong Palace Museum (HKPM) and the Palace Museum in Beijing, exclusively sponsored by the Institute of Philanthropy. It opened in Gallery 7 of HKPM, in the West Kowloon Cultural District, on 14 May 2025. It was first scheduled to close on 13 October 2025 and was extended; HKPM's exhibition page lists the closing date as 3 June 2026.

Its subject is pattern: motifs taken from the Forbidden City's architecture, ceramics, embroidery and brocade -- among them the bat-and-peach, sea-water-and-dragon and interlocking-lotus designs -- animated with what the Palace Museum calls flowing, interweaving light and shadow. The Palace Museum lists seven experience spaces; HKPM's page groups them into six sections, each with a suggested viewing time, for a visit of about 20 minutes.

HKPM has announced a further digital exhibition for Gallery 7 in its 2026 programme -- Myth into Art: Fantastic Animals in the Digital Realm (working title), multimedia works by Hong Kong artists inspired by the Forbidden City's mythical creatures. Check HKPM's website for confirmed dates before visiting.

- ![A visitor sits on a floor and walls covered in projected blue-and-white sea-wave patterns in Gallery 7 of the Hong Kong Palace Museum, during The Ways in Patterns.](https://mlabart.com/insights/hong-kong-palace-museum-ways-in-patterns-immersive-digital-exhibition/official-sea-wave-floor.jpg) -- Projected sea-wave patterns cover the floor and walls of the first space. Image: Hong Kong Palace Museum.
- ![A visitor looks up at a projected Palace Museum caisson ceiling in red, green and gold in the Ceiling Decorations section of The Ways in Patterns.](https://mlabart.com/insights/hong-kong-palace-museum-ways-in-patterns-immersive-digital-exhibition/official-caisson-ceiling.jpg) -- Ceiling Decorations: a caisson ceiling unfolds overhead. Image: Hong Kong Palace Museum.

## How did each space respond to visitors?

Every section asked visitors for one kind of action. The instructions below are HKPM's own; HKPM does not publish the projectors, sensors or software behind them, and no production studio is credited on its exhibition page.

| Section | What visitors do | What happens | Suggested time |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Profusion of Lights and Colours | Walk across the floor | Patterns of starry skies, mythical creatures, flowers and birds move underfoot | 6 min |
| Patterns of Nature, Ingenious Designs and Technology | Stand at the edge of a platter and wave; touch the wall | Nature patterns wake up; the wall reveals hints about the artefacts' motifs | 6 min |
| Patterns and Fashion | Approach a gauze curtain | Woven elements wake and lead into embroidery and brocade | 3 min |
| Ceiling Decorations | Look up | Caisson ceilings from the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Pavilion of One Thousand Autumns and the Pavilion over a Pond unfold overhead | Not stated |
| The Palace Museum through the Window | Walk through the shadows of walls and windows | Window-grille shadows change with the seasons | 2 min |
| Reinventing Traditional Patterns | Rotate an assigned jar or flowerpot, then tap | Visitors draw their own fish or bird onto the vessel | 3 min |

- ![Visitor route of The Ways in Patterns at the Hong Kong Palace Museum. Profusion of Lights and Colours: walk, patterns move underfoot, 6 minutes. Patterns of Nature, Ingenious Designs and Technology: wave at the platter and touch the wall, 6 minutes. Patterns and Fashion: approach the gauze curtain, 3 minutes. Ceiling Decorations: look up at three caisson ceilings. The Palace Museum through the Window: walk through shadows that change with the seasons, 2 minutes. Reinventing Traditional Patterns: rotate a jar or flowerpot and tap to draw a fish or bird, 3 minutes.](https://mlabart.com/insights/hong-kong-palace-museum-ways-in-patterns-immersive-digital-exhibition/visitor-route.svg) -- Six sections, each built around one visitor action. Section names, actions and times from HKPM's exhibition page. Diagram by MLABART.

## How do footstep, wave and touch triggers work?

HKPM describes two techniques in its own words: in the Patterns of Nature section, surface motifs "are explored through AI technology to discover the connections between artefacts", and "precise three-dimensional projections" render each pattern and each artefact in the round. Beyond that, the equipment is not disclosed. The points below describe how rooms of this kind are generally built.

Floors that react to footsteps are usually projected from above, with a depth camera or overhead sensor finding the positions of feet. Walls that react to touch often use a 2D laser scanner (LiDAR) mounted beside the wall, which sweeps a thin plane of infrared light and reports where a hand breaks it. A wave in a marked zone, or a step towards a gauze curtain, is read the same way: a sensor watches a defined volume and reports when someone enters it.

The positions only matter once they are calibrated into the projected image, so that a footstep lands exactly where the light responds. A real-time engine then draws the response and sends it to the projectors -- usually several, edge-blended into one canvas -- and the whole loop repeats many times a second. A gauze curtain works as a scrim: it catches projected light while staying partly see-through, so patterns appear to hang in the air.

- ![General principle of an interactive projection room: projectors above cover the floor; an overhead depth camera finds feet and waving hands; a 2D laser scanner along the wall reports where a hand touches. Each point is calibrated into the projected image, a real-time engine draws the response, and blended projectors show it, many times a second.](https://mlabart.com/insights/hong-kong-palace-museum-ways-in-patterns-immersive-digital-exhibition/interaction-loop.svg) -- General principle of interactive projection rooms, not the actual layout of the exhibition, whose equipment HKPM has not published. Diagram by MLABART.

## What can brands borrow from a museum's immersive pattern show?

The same approach translates directly into brand exhibitions and pop-ups:

- Give every room one verb -- walk, wave, touch, look up, draw. One clear instruction per space keeps a short visit moving without staff explaining it.
- Mine the archive for patterns -- packaging, monograms and print archives can be animated the way palace motifs were.
- Publish a suggested time per space -- about 20 minutes in total here -- so queues and capacity can be planned.
- End with something to make -- drawing a fish or bird onto a vessel turns the visit into a personal result worth sharing.
- Use soft materials as screens -- a gauze curtain or scrim adds depth and a moment of discovery that a flat wall cannot.

- ![A giant porcelain platter at the centre of a curved projection room, surrounded by projected lotus leaves and flowers, in the Patterns of Nature section of The Ways in Patterns.](https://mlabart.com/insights/hong-kong-palace-museum-ways-in-patterns-immersive-digital-exhibition/official-lotus-platter.jpg) -- Patterns of Nature: lotus patterns spread from a giant platter, where visitors wave to wake them. Image: Hong Kong Palace Museum.
- ![A visitor walks between hanging gauze curtains carrying projected blue and gold flower-and-bird patterns in the Patterns and Fashion section of The Ways in Patterns.](https://mlabart.com/insights/hong-kong-palace-museum-ways-in-patterns-immersive-digital-exhibition/official-gauze-curtains.jpg) -- Patterns and Fashion: gauze curtains catch projected embroidery and brocade motifs. Image: Hong Kong Palace Museum.

## Sources

The exhibition described here is by the Hong Kong Palace Museum, the Palace Museum and their production partners, not by MLABART.

- [Hong Kong Palace Museum -- The Ways in Patterns: An Immersive Digital Exhibition from the Palace Museum (exhibition page)](https://www.hkpm.org.hk/en/exhibition/the-ways-in-patterns-an-immersive-digital-exhibition-from-the-palace-museum)
- [Hong Kong Palace Museum -- Press release: The Ways in Patterns opens on 14 May](https://www.hkpm.org.hk/en/about/press-release/the-new-multimedia-thematic-exhibition-the-ways-in-patterns-an-immersive-digital-exhibition-from-the-palace-museum-jointly-organised-by-the-hong-kong-palace-museum-and-the-palace-museum-opens-on-14-may)
- [The Palace Museum -- "纹"以载道 opens at the Hong Kong Palace Museum](https://www.dpm.org.cn/show/369714.html)
- [Hong Kong Palace Museum -- 2026 exhibition line-up](https://www.hkpm.org.hk/en/about/press-release/hong-kong-palace-museum-unveils-exciting-2026-exhibition-lineup-with-nine-new-exhibitions-showcasing-chinese-treasures-and-world-art-masterpieces)


## FAQ

### When did The Ways in Patterns run at the Hong Kong Palace Museum?

It opened on 14 May 2025 in Gallery 7. First scheduled to close on 13 October 2025, it was extended; HKPM's exhibition page lists the closing date as 3 June 2026.

### What technologies did The Ways in Patterns use?

HKPM describes "precise three-dimensional projections" and AI used to explore links between artefact motifs. Visitors triggered the content by walking, waving, touching a wall, approaching a gauze curtain and drawing; the specific equipment and production studio are not disclosed.

### Who organised The Ways in Patterns?

The Hong Kong Palace Museum and the Palace Museum jointly organised it, with exclusive sponsorship from the Institute of Philanthropy.



## Related Pages

**See also:** [Immersive Art Exhibitions](https://mlabart.com/solutions/immersive-exhibitions/) | [Motion & Body-Tracking Interactives](https://mlabart.com/solutions/motion-tracking-interactives/) | [Projection Mapping](https://mlabart.com/solutions/projection-mapping/) | [Digital Exhibition Halls & Showrooms](https://mlabart.com/solutions/digital-exhibition-halls/)

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**MLABART** -- Interaction - Imagination - Innovation

MLABART is an interactive installation and interactive software development studio. We design, program and deliver interactive installations -- motion-sensing games, touch and AI experiences, interactive LED walls, projection mapping, naked-eye 3D and kinetic sculptures -- for mall and New Year's Eve countdown campaigns, trade-show booths and launches, and brand pop-ups, from concept and custom software through fabrication and on-site delivery.

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